To the Jennys and Jasons and All Who Chase Joy
Photo: Brenda Anderson, Creative Commons, cc license Dear Jenny, You would have laughed this afternoon, and I think some did. With a bundle of purple lilacs in one hand and a bulky walkman cassette player in the other, I awkwardly flipped open the machine to turn my tape over. Slipping around under the black walkman…
The Ambushing Joy of No Cosmic Carnival Bell
Photo: Thomas Totz, Creative Commons cc license Banana muffins sheen from melted butter and I’m on my fourth one. Hot from the oven, they steam when opened and glisten moist on a hot muggy May afternoon. A friend has just left, our tea cups and dishes still line the counter. This afternoon, listening to my…
To the Ugly and Small-God-Praying Folk Like Me
Photo: M. H. Anbinder, Creative Commons, cc license Every day he went to the Gate Beautiful. And I don’t know if he felt beautiful, but I know that he pulled his withered legs closer to him on the braided mat and he stared out. At the passing people who didn’t see him, at the passing…
What Captain America and Superman Knew But We’re Still Learning
Right after a tall red-faced Star Wars Darth Maul glowered down at me and growled, I jumped, and you would have too, to see his teeth bared at such close range. Photo Credit: The Conmunity, Creative Commons, cc license In a crowded comic book convention this weekend, my daughter and I passed countless Supermen, Captain…
In the Aftermath of Mach Two Speed
Photo: Adikos, Creative Common, cc license “Learn from my mistakes,” she wrote vulnerably. “I wish someone had shared this with me years ago.” I dished up a slice of sour cream lemon pie and poured the last marginally-hot dregs of coffee into my yellow and brown striped mug. Setting them beside the Ipad screenshot of…
The Tattoo Every Parent Needs
Photo: Meena Kadri, Creative Commons, cc license Photo: Yulya Balaeva, Creative Commons, cc license She’s got it tattooed right up her arm, this mom friend I know. You can see it curving up through rust-colored vines. And I think of it this morning as I plunge hands into scalding hot dish water, and slide in…
Can You Picture When It Switched For You?
I remember when it switched. You had always been my comfort-Mom, the one I called upstairs late at night when my middle school friends and I had scared ourselves with sleepover ghost stories. Sara’s tales of a come-alive puppet proved too much for us that summer, and suddenly my five-foot tall rag doll Jenny was…
You Are Sooo Close
Photo Credit: Benson Kua, Creative Commons, cc license A lovely foreign-accented dark-haired woman with pale complexion and red lipstick clips words with a heavy tongue beside me, while an American businessman converses with her. They mention churches, the Basilica, nieces dancing in Hopkins, and a local pontoon party. I’ve finished my Sunday School lesson outline…
How Flashes Deep With an Atom Reflect the Life We’re Searching For
“Oh, I forgot to tell you! As I was driving to come get you just now, John, something fell off the car.” Both kids looked at me in surprise. “Fell off the car?” “Yes, I felt something tumble off the bottom of the car and, looking back in my rearview mirror, I saw something roll…
What an Investigative Detective Would Tell You
A chill steals into my windowed corner at the coffee shop, and I hunch shoulders protectively. Snowflakes and raindrops vacillate past the windowpane, disappearing into flash ripples in the puddles. The tiny sample cup of iced coffee sits full on the corner of my square wooden table, and I can’t bring myself to touch its…